Offroad-Express

Hey guys,

Turoa and my mate Sam convinced me it was a good idea to buy a Range Rover as a run about/tow wagon. So i found this and won the auction

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =508693226

At the price I got it, it is a steal. There is probably a bit of work to be done on it but that is not too much of an issue for me. Does anyone on here know about it? Surely there aren't many in NZ with the 6.2 in it. I wouldn't mind finding out how it was done as it has been in NZ since 87.

Cheers
Sam

Hey sammy if it gets to much of a drama for you to get it south side ,i got $1100 bucks for it.

haha thanks but I have no intention selling it. I am picking it up next Thursday which i am excited about. I am doubtful its the harmonic balancer as from talking to people it will be vibrating throughout the rev range. I am going with timing or injectors. But we will see. I just want to see what its like. I know there is a variety of transmissions people use for them so I was hoping maybe someone on here knows what it has.

Cheers
Sam

Sammy there is a place in gore called charlton motor imports.they used to bring in chev motors.there was a guy there who is an absulute guru on those motors.they also used to have shit loads of 5.7 and 6.2 diesel motor bits,as well .they could be worth a call.

jammysammy wrote:Hey guys,

Turoa and my mate Sam convinced me it was a good idea to buy a Range Rover as a run about/tow wagon. So i found this and won the auction

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =508693226

At the price I got it, it is a steal. There is probably a bit of work to be done on it but that is not too much of an issue for me. Does anyone on here know about it? Surely there aren't many in NZ with the 6.2 in it. I wouldn't mind finding out how it was done as it has been in NZ since 87.

Cheers
Sam

I hope you actually had the vehicle inspected before bidding.
Despite his comment of no rust I beat there is rust somewhere in it.
I too wonder what gearbox it has in it as well. Big diesel engines in RR's and LR's often shook the gearboxes too much and caused vibrations, especially if not aligned up correctly.
Its too early a model for the 4-speed ZF so may have an early Chrysler 3-speed that was fitted from 1983-84.
Having said that it appears to have been 'dressed' up with later bumpers, grill, seats and alloys so anythings possible with it.

yeah i am not too worried about the rust in it. I have a mate who is quite good at panel work. Thanks for that Batfastard. I will get in touch with them. He said it was built down South I think so he might know who built it. Unfortunately living down in Christchurch made it a bit hard to see but 900 bucks isn't too much for me. I could always part it out if it all turned to custard but i really hope it is in relatively good knick as it looks like a cool truck. I am thinking the cheap price maybe because people were put off by the issues with it.

Cheers
Sam

I made my mind to bid to 2k but got the time wrong and missed it at leastits gone to a good home.

man that thing's sweet. must admit i hovered over the biddign button too.

can't lose at $900!

either way you cant lose at 900 bucks mate

Looks awesome, love those early RRs, and being diesel and $900.. score!

yeah that was my thinking. really it was too good to be true. i was the only one who bid on it. It doesn't have carpet in it but there is someone on trademe that makes the carpets for them for about 400 i think so i will do that. The speedo is easy. I will give it a good overhaul when i get it back down here and see how i go from there. I have heard stories the engines aren't powerful but are quite torquey.

Cheers
Sam

Don't worry about the carpet, it'll just get wet and muddy. Most good "run about/tow wagon" eventually get used in anger.

Great buy Sammy.

Well done! You are now part of the elite!

well i should give you guys a bit of an update as i did pick it up last Thursday and what a shit trip back down it was. We got about 30-40mins out of Rotorua and I started to loose drive. I thought well this isn't good so pulled over. Luckily my mate Sam who also bought one in Auckland was also doing the road trip with me. I called him back and we had a look. I should mention that we checked the oil levels before we left. Took the dipstick out to only find smoke in there. After a quick inspection i saw it was leaking out of the rear of the transmission. Not knowing much about the chevy transmissions nor how the rover transfercase was adapted to it i thought maybe it was a seal gone. So we parked it up on the side of the road and went to get some oil back in Rotorua. $160 later i had 8l. I decided that we had no other choice and maybe the seal was a bit dry and after a bit of time soaking it would soften up. How i was wrong. i put 4l in to then watch it piss out the back. Having no tools at 6:30 at night in the dark we decided that it was too much of a job to fix on the side of the road. Luckily i bought a snatch strap with us just in case something like this happened. I went to try get the transfercase into neutral and nothing happened. The linkage looked like it was moving but did nothing and no tools to disconnect the driveshafts. It was then my heart sank and i realised that we had to tow it and risk really stuffing the trans so we did. Got to Waiuru and the transmission started to sieze. So we pulled over and begged to use tools and managed to get some shifters to take the driveshafts off. It was then i noticed that the bolts that hold the transfercase on were missing and that it had wiggled its way off the transmission. Having a look yesterday showed that someone had stripped the threads out of them. In doing so, the front driveshaft uj on the transfercase end had worn a hole in the sump of the transmission.

So we flat towed it all the way from Rotorua to Christchurch and didn't even miss the ferry. Not something i suggest to anyone. Despite this fact though, the engine has no blowby, looks tidy and barely blows smoke so i have a feeling it has been rebuilt at some stage which makes the engine worth a bit. I called up Rodzone in Kapiti today and ordered a th700r for it which is what the old one was and will hopefully get it Friday and have it going by this weekend. Will be able to find out what is causing the vibration. Could be the lack of oil in the torque converter and trans. It has been an interesting start in my ownership of it and the body looks in good shape. Just needs a bit of work tidying the interior up and it will be awesome. I knew it would have problems for $900 bucks but hey the engine is worth 2 times that so i didn't really loose too much.

Sam

All the shit you've gone thru......... I bet it was still a cool mission